Kelsey on open hearted people

The past few days I witnessed some of the kindest, most compassionate, and open hearted people I think I have met thus so far. We did a home stay at a township close by called Ocean View. We had to pack all of our things and carry them with us from our home, to UCT, around Ocean View, and then to our host homes. When we first got to Ocean View we were able to walk around the community and it became quite evident we were strangers to the area, not just because we were mostly white and a minority, but also because Ocean View is such a close knit community. One of the first things I noticed were the amount of dogs running around and the number of kids playing soccer in the road. I played soccer in high school, but seeing so many children just enjoying the sport in the street made me take on a new appreciation for the sport. All 30 of us were able to eat dinner together at one of the host family’s homes. The food was phenomenal and Morgan and I were even more pleased to find out she would be our host mother! Needless to say we gained about 5 pounds each that weekend. They had two children, Amy, 8, and Robin, 13. Robin played soccer for a club team, so we rarely saw him, but Amy hung around us all weekend and I loved being able to have a little sister for the weekend. On Friday, we were also given the opportunity to help out at the local crèche, or kindergarten. I was glad I got the opportunity to interact with children, because we don’t have that chance at the clinic. The crèche I went to was smaller (it had only 16 children) and was held at an area annexed from the principal’s home. The children ranged from 1 to 4. I noticed the girls loved to play with hair! I also talked to the principal, who also grew up in Ocean View. She too explained how small and caring the community was. You could tell by the way kids played in the streets and neighbors greeted each other. That night we got to watch the performances by the children and our co educators. It was definitely one of the highlights of the weekend.  By the time that we had to leave Sunday, Morgan and I were in tears. Visiting our family again is definitely on our list of things to do before we leave.

As for my internship, we are now in our third week and I feel like I am comfortable working in the environment and with the people. This week I am in the emergency ward and so far it is my favorite. We also do bandaging and blood samples, which they let me do more hands on procedures. I hear my co educators complain about having to wake up and go to work and I am so grateful that I can say I honestly can’t wait to go to work and see the doctors and nurses.